Chicken Kiev, chips and coleslaw

This has long been one of my wife’s favourite dishes that I cook, but I hadn’t made it for a while so I decided to approach it again … and I think I perfected it! Normally when I buy chicken I like to buy the whole thing and chop, fillet and freeze as necessary. But Thomas Elliot butcher’s up the road from me do perfect free-range breast supremes (with the first wing bone still in), which is very helpful given that this takes so long to prepare for what is, without doubt, a TV dinner.

Mix the garlic with the butter and parsley and season to taste. Form into two lumps and place in the freezer to chill.

Lay out one of the chicken supremes on a long sheet of cling film on a board. Open it out and cover with more cling film. Take a rolling pin and bat the chicken out until it’s as flat as it will go. The meat will be thickest near the wing bone. Use a knife to make a small pouch here and push in one of the pieces of garlic butter. Now egg wash around the sides of the chicken and wrap it around the butter to try to make a neat barrel shape. Wrap in cling film and twist up the ends of the cling film as tightly as possible then place in the fridge. Repeat for the other breast. Refrigerate for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile lay out four plates in a row, the first with the flour, the second with the remaining egg wash, the third with the breadcrumbs and the final one empty for the breaded chicken. Dip and roll the chicken in each of the plates in turn so that it ends up thoroughly covered in crumbs.

Now put a good layer of oil into a frying pan and bring to a medium heat. Fry the chicken pieces all over until the crumbs take on a light colour then transfer to a baking dish and bake in the oven for about 20–25 minutes until cooked.

While the chicken is cooking, bring the oil up to a medium temperature in a large saucepan or wok. Don’t fill it more than half full. Part cook the chips in batches until soft but not breaking up. They don’t need to colour at this stage. Remove the part cooked chips and reserve. Turn up the heat to hot.

Mix the shredded cabbage, carrot and mayonnaise together and season to make the mayonnaise. You might want to add a pinch of cayenne or some mustard.

Finish the chips by returning them, in small batches, to the hot fat until golden all over and crispy. Drain on kitchen roll and serve in a big bowl, with a bowl of coleslaw and the chicken on plates and the melted garlic butter that has leaked out poured around it.